Friday, October 11, 2013

Convento de São Francisco

Me and Gustavo spent another afternoon exploring a monastery, this one in Portimão: Convento de São Francisco. It wasn't so hard to get inside as we thought. There was a breach in one of the walls, it was a pretty easy climb. Once inside, it got even better. There is plenty to explore - the cloister, the upper floor, the ruins...There were definitely people (gipsy families, for what I've figured) living in those ruins. We could hear a man doing something behind the trees and we also noticed lots of clothes hanging in a rack in the backyard.

Surrounded by the harbour, the monastery was founded in 1530. In 1755, the epic earthquake shook the country and this structure naturally collapsed... and with the catastrophe came the decay. It's a shame, really, because no one is interested in doing anything for that piece of History. The convent was also used as cork storage in the 19th century but guess what, a fire destroyed everything inside.This was a place we both were curious about for many years and despite the strong smell of shit, piss and junk, it was a very worthy visit, overall.

Wow! It's so beautiful. But I can say that I am very happy that internet can not trasfer smell, I can only imagine what the smell there should have been. It's only too bad that people don't realize how beautiful and historically important this place could be.